MANUEL PELLEGRINI has come out in defence of Steven Gerrard saying: His slip didn't cost Liverpool the title.

Published 24th August 2014

LONG SEASON: Pellegrini says that the 38 games over the course of the season decided last seasons title [GETTY]

Gerrard will face a barrage of abuse at the Etihad tomorrow night over his "Bambi" boob which handed the opening goal on a plate to victorious Chelsea's Demba Ba at the end of April.

But the Manchester City boss insists that wasn't the turning point in last season's title race when his side were crowned champions by just two points over runners up Liverpool.

And Pellegrini, just to put the record straight, comes out fighting against outsiders who goad City by continually sniping that the Premier League billionaires "bought" the title.

First, though, Pellegrini savoured the moment to re-live the last few weeks of the championship chase when Gerrard's moment of despair had a major impact on the destiny of the English crown.

“I always feel sorry for players who make a mistake but I don't think that slip of Steven Gerrard decided the title”

Manuel Pellegrini

Pellegrini, asked if he felt sorry for Gerrard, said: "Yes of course. I always feel sorry for players who make a mistake but I don't think that slip of Steven Gerrard decided the title.

"There are 38 games during the whole year. It was not a mistake. It was a problem with the pitch. So it was not a mistake. It can happen.

"And it's not as if he missed a pass inside the box. It was slippery and it can happen to any player."

Gerrard slumped to a gut-wrenching low after that Chelsea defeat - in complete contrast to the euphoria of beating City 3-2 two weeks earlier and opening up a seven point gap.

Vincent Kompany suffered an error of his own with a sliced clearance which Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho rammed back home for the winner.

Pellegrini added: "They were very unlucky in that Chelsea game but they were very lucky in the game they played against us. Vincent had a very similar slip. Not exactly the same but similar.

"The turning point was when we lost against Liverpool in that game at Anfield. We felt that we played better than them. It was a very special day for Liverpool but also there were a lot of mistakes from the referee.

"But we never complained about that. We never opened our mouths or said anything about the referee. But we were sure that if we were able to win the last five games it was very difficult for Liverpool to do that also.

"It gave us strong motivation. When you finish a game and you feel that the other team is better than you then maybe they deserve to be the champions.

"But all of us finished that game and thought we were very unlucky to lose it. We were convinced that after that we had to win the last five games to win the title."

Liverpool clearly thought they'd done it. And Gerrard's huddle when he gathered his troops and told them: "This does not f***ing slip" was an emotional moment which looked to have got the Kop kings to within touching distance.

But City embarked on that final game run-in of beating West Brom, Palace, Everton, Aston Villa and West Ham to finish champions.

Pellegrini said: "I think as the captain, he was motivating his team and nothing more. It was very important the way we finished the season. But I thought the title was only ours in the last game in the last minute.

"A lot of the media are always talking about money but this victory was not money. You can't do that just with money.

"You can do it with character, with personality, with conviction. The style of play. It was a lot of things. This year there are a lot of teams who spend more money than our team.

"It's about money because you need a strong squad but there are a lot of things after the money that you must do if you want to be the champions.

"And to win the title you have to play as well as we did last year. We are trying to improve on last year."